


When It Changed

by sumnawaz



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Upstead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sumnawaz/pseuds/sumnawaz
Summary: Hailey reminisces when her feelings for Jay truly manifested.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	When It Changed

**Author's Note:**

> just a little bit of fluff for fun

She could remember when it changed.

Or maybe it wasn’t the moment everything had _changed_ —but where the descent had started. Because from then on, Hailey was falling, falling, falling and could only hope and wonder if Jay would be there to catch her. Truthfully, there were many moments that could’ve taken the claim of being the one moment where everything started, but one specific time came into Hailey’s mind if she sat and thought about it.

*****

Her heart pounded in her chest, ringing ears deafening her to the thunderous beat and her labored breathing. Her head was reeling, falling into a momentary bout of shock due to the unexpected bullets that rained on them, too lost in focusing on her breathing to hear Voight ask them if they were okay from outside, prompting Jay to shout back his response.

Hailey sucked in a breath as the sound of his shouted response vibrated through his chest—which her head was pressed against. She willed herself to calm down, told herself she’s probably been through worse, but her heart was still drumming erratically, the panic of her and Jay being at death’s door just moments ago for a few minutes too long still holding her tightly.

Just like he was.

Jay’s arms remained around her, just like they had the second he wrapped them around her and brought both of them down to the floor of the van. He’d moved fast, his ranger instincts kicking in. His arms were a vice around her, holding her tight and close, tucking her head into his chest as he reached for a bulletproof vest to drape over them—drape over _her_ because Jay always thought of others before he thought of himself.

And so the bullets and van debris rained down on them, and they could do nothing but hold each other and keep low, hoping and praying that a bullet didn’t catch them or their partner. It all probably lasted a couple of seconds, but those seconds dragged on for an eternity as well placed fear embedded itself in Hailey’s heart. She was never one to be scared easily; growing up in her family, with the kind of father she had, had hardened Hailey for the most part.

But she wasn’t invincible, and having multiple shots being fired at her and her partner in a small space. . . That had been terrifying.

And Jay had saved her.

“Hailey.” Her name was a whisper on his lips, his hands large and warm on her back. “Hailey, you’re good, right?”

The worry in his voice had Hailey letting out a long breath, realizing that she was still clutching the front of his jacket tightly in her fists. Her throat felt dry from the panic that had overtaken her, but somehow Hailey managed to nod as she reluctantly peeled back from Jay’s chest. “Yeah,” she said hoarsely, tilting her head just a bit to meet his gaze. “I’m good. You?”

Jay was already looking down at her, green eyes wide and wild from what just happened. She wondered what was going on outside, wondered if the team apprehended the shooter, what happened to Wilson Young, the gang banger they’d been tailing. “I’m fine,” Jay answered a bit breathlessly. He was probably still reeling from them almost get shot at, too.

The two stayed low, the debris on and around them, neither moving until they got the all clear from Voight or anyone else. The van was silent save for their heavy breathing, sunlight streaming inside through the bullet holes decorating the side of the vehicle. Shattered or broken equipment lay around them as well, but neither paid attention to anything but the other.

“Thanks for pulling me down,” Hailey said as her blue eyes locked with his green. They were so close. She had a fleeting thought of realizing she could count every single one of his freckles because of their proximity. The idea made her warm. Totally not an appropriate time to think of something like that.

“Of course,” Jay said, offering a half-smile as he caught his breath. Hailey tried to return the smile, her heart only just beginning to slow down. But then one of Jay’s hands moved from her back, and her throat tightened as his fingers brushed back some tendrils of her blonde hair that had escaped from her ponytail during the ordeal. His knuckles brushed lightly against her cheekbone, a gentle caress that dipped her stomach, her gaze glued onto Jay and the way he was following the movement of his hand. “I got your back. Always.”

*****

Yeah, if Hailey had to pinpoint the moment where she truly started to fall for Jay, it would be that. It would be the moment where he pulled her down and covered her body with his own, making himself a shield for her, saving her from being target practice. Because afterwards, when she looked at him, the sunlight streaming into the van over his head, he wasn’t just her friend, or her partner. In that moment, Jay had become something more, and it would take yet another life or death situation for her to realize it.

But she had, eventually. Fortunately.

Hailey turned her head to the right, catching sight of her slumbering partner. The comforter rested on his stomach, revealing his freckled chest and shoulders, which rose and fell steadily with every breath he took. A sleepy, fond smile curved Hailey’s lips as Jay slept, dark hair as messy as the short strands could be. He looked so peaceful—she didn’t dare wake him.

Carefully, Hailey pulled herself out of bed and wandered into Jay’s kitchen. Goosebumps rose on her exposed legs thanks to the chilly morning, Jay’s shirt reaching her midthigh as she quietly and efficiently began brewing some coffee for the two of them. As she waited, Hailey’s gaze wandered to the fridge, taking note of the pictures Jay haphazardly had stuck on there with magnets. Photographs of him with Al, with his brother, a bunch with Intelligence at Molly’s, and one with the two of them in their blues for some event or another. Hailey smiled fondly at all of them.

Once the coffee was made, she poured them into two cups, just as she heard Jay’s sleepy, hoarse groan from the room, “Hailey.”

Her grin widened, taking the mugs and wandering back to the bedroom. “I’m right here,” she let out a small laugh. Jay was now laying on his stomach, arm stretched out to where she had been laying as if he had been reaching for her before realizing she wasn’t there.

Jay lifted his head, sleep bleary eyes watching her enter the room. She didn’t miss his appreciative pursual of her figure even though he was half asleep before his head fell back onto the pillow. After placing the mugs on the bedside, instead of sliding back into her side of the bed, Hailey climbed on top of Jay, straddling his lower back and leaning down until her front was pressed against his back.

His eyes were closed, but a smile quirked at Jay’s lips as Hailey pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek and murmured, “Good morning.”

His voice was rough with sleep as he mused, “Yes, it is,” before tapping her thigh.

Hailey knew what he wanted, and she lifted her weight off of him just enough to allow Jay to turn onto his back, and Hailey settled back down to straddle his hips as he peered up with her with bright green eyes. “I thought we were supposed to sleep in,” Jay said, hands settling on Hailey’s hips.

It was their day off, so he wasn’t wrong. “We did sleep in,” she pointed out with a dimpled grin. “It’s eleven-thirty.” They would be well into their workday during the week.

Jay smiled lazily, hands sliding under the hem of her—his—shirt, resting on her hips again. His skin was warm against hers, his touch sending her blood into a frenzy. “So what are our plans for today?”

Hailey ran her fingers through his short hair before resting her hand against his cheek, feeling a smile tug at her lips as he leaned into her touch. “You,” she started, leaning down. “Me.” Jay smirked, eyes watching as she closed the distance between them. Her lips brushed against his. “Staying in this bed all day.”

“I can get behind that,” Jay said before closing the gap and pressing his lips to hers in a kiss that sent Hailey’s head spinning and heart threatening to leap out of her chest.

His arms wrapped around her, just as they had in that van nearly a year ago, and Hailey easily recognized the feeling that washed over her in Jay’s arms. Safe. She felt safe every time he held her. And she knew that was why it had been that moment, in the van when the bullets were raining down on them, that she attributed to being the instant she started falling for Jay.

No one made her feel safe, feel at home, the way Jay did.


End file.
